Interview: Designing a Chair Made of Sugar with Pieter Brenner

Pieter Brenner thinks of himself as a “German designer”, even though his childhood was spent in Amsterdam. Focusing on the premium segment of design, Brenner’s projects are said to be characterized by a careful research of design-history and an interest for clearness. One of his recent designs, The Sugarchair, caught our attention due to its playfulness. We decided to challenge him with a few questions in order to see what his arguments were for designing a chair made entirely out of sugar.

• Freshome: How did you come up with the idea of creating a chair made out of sugar? What was your inspiration source?


• Pieter Brenner: I was just wondering why we know thousands of chairs and just a few possibilities of sitting. But design is still searching for the right chair. I wanted to make a chair that can be shaped by the costumer through consumption, because most of the time he is much more intelligent than the science of ergonomics.

• Freshome: How is the Sugarchair different from any other seating unit?


• Pieter Brenner: The sugar chair is editable, eatable and recyclable. And it doesn’t care much about ergonomics, it cares about your fantasy and your thoughts.

• Freshome: Describe the chair a bit in terms of durability.


• Pieter Brenner: Look at the picture i have sent with the girl. I built the chair, that a normal person could sit on it, but in real life you should´not do it. The durability of the chair depends on the costumer and his appetite. The more he consumes, the less chair he will have.

• Freshome: What’s your target?


• Pieter Brenner: There are many targets for every person who see the chair differently. I think people should get involved with the design, and I think chair design is a job I can give up to my consumers. I think the connection of raw material and consumption is very important. Furthermore I have just made an object of fantasy, you should move in it with your own thoughts.

• Freshome: If you were to have an unprecedented success with this design (in all aspects), what would you create next?


• Pieter Brenner: Maybe I would create a museum for all the design stuff. Most of the design should be in a museum, but until now, no suitable museum was ever created. I want to create this design museum and i am working on this concept. If anything fails, I will create a popular shelf, but I hope this will not happen..;-)

• Freshome: How did people react so far to your uncommon design?


• Pieter Brenner: Actually I don´t know much about the reactions, because I prefer listening to myself, which is much more difficult.

• Freshome: In the end of each interview we like to ask our “guests” to say something they would like the world to know about their work and their ideas…


• Pieter Brenner: Design will change the world with sustainable sugarchairs.